http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ivan-eland/reality-and-illusion-in-a_b_8688510.html

Ivan Eland  Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace & Liberty, The Independent Institute

Reality and Illusion in American Politics

Posted: 12/01/2015

As the crazy protracted carnival of the presidential election rolls forward with ever more outrageous rhetoric, spin, downright lies, and "gotcha" moments, it bears remembering what's on television usually has little to do with reality. For example, despite the blanket television coverage of the killing of 129 Parisians by Islamist terrorists, the average American's chances of ever getting killed by an international terrorist is lower than getting struck by lightning. In fact, Americans statistically have a greater chance of getting killed by disgruntled domestic reactionaries (for example, the shooter at Planned Parenthood) than they do by radical Islamists.
The U.S. political campaign is likewise filled with made-for-TV illusions. Journalists, believing optimistically that political campaigns, and their distorted coverage of them, do matter, focus excessively on the horse race of who's coming on and who's fading rather than on the issues or the underlying forces driving an election. Experts on campaigns in universities focus on these underlying forces.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ivan-eland/reality-and-illusion-in-american-politics_b_8688510.html